Local Trails Paving the Way with Good Intentions

An old Hwy 237 frontage road between Zanker and McCarthy Blvd. has been repaved. What a difference.

If you think too much of our hard-earned money goes to government waste, you’d be right, but there are some notable exceptions, such as the local Coyote Creek and Guadalupe River trails.

I meandered out that way this morning to check out the fabulous paved Guadalupe River Trail from the airport to Montague Expressway. I haven’t ridden it yet because the entryways are still being completed at Trimble Road. It looks like they’ll be done by Thanksgiving. There’s work going on beyond Montague as well, so it won’t be long before we’ll have another paved path to Alviso. Today you can take San Tomas Aquino Creek path most of the way to Alviso.

If you’re someone who wants to know just how much use San Jose trails see, there’s a 2012 trail report just for you. They’re seeing substantial growth year to year.

While it’s only about a half-mile, the gnarly stretch between Zanker Road and McCarthy Boulevard paralleling 237 on the north side is newly paved. Now if we could see the Coyote Creek path under Hwy 237 open, there would be some nice loop rides free of traffic. One of these days.

Work continues on the 49ers stadium. Seating keeps going higher.

Finally, the 49ers stadium continues to progress. They’re working on the nose-bleed section now. Fortunately the San Tomas Aquino Creek trail is being kept open during construction. They even have traffic control, and trail traffic has priority.

2 Responses to “Local Trails Paving the Way with Good Intentions”

About time too. How many decades has it been since Caltrans (pre-DD64) basically shutdown bicycle access with the expansion of 237/Calaveras? Those of us who rode in the early 70s might even remember when the Mt Hamilton Century (double metric) was held on 237 to Lockheed. From Julian St north has been a cyclist’s safety hazard area since ~76. Nice to see it fixed even if it is only to a degree (and even then only when there’s no maintenance, or flooding, or other reason to shutdown these trails). Now if we could just get a few bike lanes so the “last mile” was also safe, especially through Milpitas…

I rode home on 237 and frontage roads with Jobst Brandt after a Mt. Hamilton loop, 129 miles. That was early 1980s and the last time we did that route. Today you could make it to Palo Alto but it would be a noteworthy achievement because you’d have to know all the ins and outs of the trails along the Baylands.